PFMM

realest, Soddball covered your question but I'll add the point that this is the crux of successful play. Get the enemies head down and keep it down, wether attack or defence, once they're grovelling in the dirt you can do pretty much anything you like.

I think he's waiting for someone to fall off or take a toilet break so he can steal their spot.

They should release "the campaign to release CMC". Now that's Total War!

Yoiks! That's one hell of a pub crawl. I pity the designated driver.

realest, Thats pretty much what you want do, suppress the firer with HE throwers and move in. When you move in don't just charge the position, move to better firing postions and covered postions as well (it's not easy,I know). At first it's a pain, but getting used to setting covered arcs is essential for better play. You can save some wrist work by double clicking on the relevent HQ unit and then adjusting individually. Some general values I use; Reserve,manuever,ambush and tank hunters - 25m Overwatch or defensive - 100m to 200m Advancing or SMG squad - 50m to 100m Finally, the AI tends to cluster, use it too your advantage, and versus the computer don't be afraid to experiment. Have fun.

I think there is a misconception of armoured cars and their like as scouting vehicles. They are no less easy to spot than a tank, they can't handle alot of terrain that a tracked one can, they are less armoured and less armed than a tank. They are used by scouting formations simply for the reason that they are cheap to build and cheap to operate, more reliable than a tank,faster to move from location to location and better than nothing at all. I'm fairly certain that any recce formation coming under fire would have wished for a tank, a big tank, to come to their aid. If you go exposing them to serious enemy fire you've only go yourself to blame.

True, but I think it's worth keeping in mind what works against a live opponent will crush the computer. Black Panther, attacking even a lone HMG position is never a cake walk. He has firepower at range, an infantry squad does not. You will most likely not know where he is, even after he fires, especially if he is in cover. And finally, the best MG postions are away from the line of advance, so you will most probably have to reposition to get at him, exposing yourself in the process.

Skippy, You give them pretty much the same move orders you would any other unit, but they have the added advantage of not bogging much, if at all, so you can use fast more often, which in turn makes them usefull as firebrigades, for raiding and for fients. One use I've read of but never applied is that of seeding them amongst the tanks. I can see possible advantages but i don't know how it would work out in practise. Seems the dogs are content too bark at each other through the fence once again.

AAAAARGHHHH!!! No!No!NO!NO! Corvidea, that strategy versus a human player will see you slapped silly. Nightkin some pointers; - AFV stands for armoured fighting vehicle. - Plan your attack at start of the game, not during it. - Use preplanned smoke barrages along the axis of attack or along potential fire lanes to shield you from fire. - Stop moving under fire. Stop thinking you can rush a HMG position with infantry. Either leave the affected units where they are or withdraw them. Other nastier units should be covering their adavnce. Blast with them. - In conjunction with above, advance in depth, defend in depth. - Stop duelling with the German armour, put your armour in a single deep column. One element covers while the other covers. STOP HIDING. STAY OUT IN THE OPEN. KEEP MOVING. Get right up close to hime en mass and pound (ie less than five hundred meters, closer is better). - Take the position on the other side of the valley and you have him. He can't move without coming under fire. - It's move then fire, not move AND fire. - This scenario has great tank terrain, use it.

Some food for thought about Jagermeister as the Soviets. You have smoke rounds for your artillery, lots of it. Use it. Your AFV crews are inexperienced, with low rates of fire, worse sights and limited ammunition compared to the Germans. You will lose any extended duel. A Panther or Tiger hit by a 122mm shell at under five hundred meteres is dead. If you trade one for one in AFVs you win easily. Your infantry can ride with the tanks. Bring some. The village is a killing zone. Clear it last. The German is playing for time. Don't let him. Force his hand. And lastly, you have numbers, scare him with them.

If you're going to scout with vehicles, scout with meanest, toughest one you have and as many of them as you can muster. Bring friends. If he shows his face, crush him. Stop thinking you can win by poking with your fingers, they are easily broken.

Kick yourself for putting two HMGs in the one building. Barring that, put them on the ground floor hiding, and hope for the best.

I think this is the game everybody claims will make Combat Mission complete, few will buy, fewer will actually play, and even less will notice.

Nightkin, when using the LOS tool it's worth your while to slowly draw the path to the target and if it changes colour what is at that point is causing the obscurement or obstruction. If it changes colour for no obvious reason it is either the weather or the time of day or both. In your case it looks to be the weather (how hard is snowing?), and are you playing at night by chance?

Good to hear. With the SiGs (and Marders,NAshorns,etc) don't just leave them in place blasting away. They are large, poorly armoured targets which heavy MGs can punch holes in all the way out to a thousand meters. Move them. Use shoot and scoot tactics. Wheel them into sight of a target timing it so they will be in sight by the start of next turn. Then shoot and roll them out of sight. Repeat. With their massive gun you can area fire (meaning you can deny your target a shot to you) to get the shot away and still cause damage. For future games search this board. A fellow by the name of JasonC produced some excellent training missions and he also produced some posts tactics on using infantry that are essential reading. The computer dulls quickly as an opponent and you will discover a whole new game against a live person.

When my brother had ingested one too many chemicals of uncertain origin he would catch cockcroaches (of which his flat was blessed)and place them in transparent film cannisters. At last count he had well over four THOUSAND of these stacked neatly in his living room for all to see. Rother, I think you should meet my brother, as I think you both have a lot in common.

A few last thoughts on this as it is one of my favourites and I just finished a game versus a friend (I as the Soviets, marginal defeat). Concentrate as the Germans, thie biggest mistake is advancing on a broad front and be defeated piecemeal. Take one bulding at a time, advancing on a limited front. The other mistake is to advance to early. Don't rush, as those AA guns are murder. Kill them first then advance. Remember, you are told where they are from the start. Bring you flamethrowers forward AFTER a safe building has been secured (keeping a half track spare for their transport isn't a bad idea). Advancing them with the troops is a good way to lose them. They are best used to ensure that the station remains in your control. Don't duel with the soviet t34's at range as they have better guns,armour and experiance. Get up close and mob them with superior numbers. The German AA gun is vital for the late game as (I forgot this) Soviet air turns up in force. So keep the AA hidden and your tanks seperate from your infantry, As air tends to target vehicles and large explosions cause discomfort. Last, don't lose your mortars, they are essential. And I've never really found a use for that infantry gun. Have fun.

I take it you are playing the AI, as all bets are off versus another person. First off, note that the central wooded ridge divides the approaches to the buildings. Secondly, the Soviet AT/AA is a given to the opposition from the start. Lastily, note that the Germans are better supported and their infantry are more experienced. For a German cake walk versus the AI ; Place almost all your turreted armor in hull down postions in the paddaock opposite the heavy AA. Place the IVs and the SiGs in the other paddock with a view to bombarding the light AA positions, hull down of course. Everything else line up as far forward and out of site in the paddock opposite the heavy AA. Turn 1 ; IIIs blow the crap out of the train. IVs and SiGs blow the crap out of the Light AA postion. Rush everything (infantry should walk not run) forward ending their moves in the gullies and out of sight. In particular keep a HQ in command of you mortar HTs so they can bombard the Heavy AA postions. Turn 2-10 HTs bombard gun positions, infantry forms up for assault on that raised fort with the one 37mm and the MGs in it with the stugs in support. Keep the ACs in the gullies. Tanks blow the stuffings out of any infantry that shows itself. Turn 10-20 Assault the rasied fort sweeping into the buildings (try keeping a platoon in reserve in their HTS, it fun to conduct an armoured assault with them). Bring the armour forward en masse and use it to engage any T34s or light tanks with overwhelming numbers at close range. Mop up. Soviet versus the AI is a no brainer as the AI is a no brainer. Have fun.

So it's several weeks or so.

Wrong grogs.

"But there is a big difference in knowing your opponents approximate strength and actually seeing the enemy units moving across the board." I agree, but the same applies to concealment counters in SL/ASL. One cannot assume that any stack with a concealment marker is wholey composed of units, or any units at all. Beware of masters in this regard! The aspect that turned me onto CM was the vision of the battlefield it presented. I still think it's unrivalled. I would argue against impulse movement (brings back all those horrible Panzerbush arguments), as it's not as realistic as you may think. Talk to any real life commander or read some operation manuals to see why

thewood, I disagree. In both CM and SL the player has a view of the battlefield that would be the envy of any commander living or dead. In both systems they have a fair idea of their enemies' forces, their likely routes of advance and how they will be disposed. Conversely both systems have equal opportunity to create confusion, with CM it is sound and spotting irregularities, with SL it is deceptive use of concealment counters. You can't sell me the hidden units argument as the moment I sit down to play CM I know he is out there. And even in a design your own scenario(which SL also has) I know how much force he has. As to VASL, if it's online your opponent will let you know, if it's PBEM it will take multiple transmissions if you adhere to rules, or you can adopt the SL mechanism.

Pardon? I'm a trifle deaf in this ear.

I missed reading this thread, but now that I've seen it OhhhArrrggg!!!! The nostalgia! The nostalgia! Played it for about twenty years, giving it up due to lack of time and space. I think that boardgames do just as good a job as computer games up to a point, and that point is the level of detail that some gamers are demanding, resulting in an insane number of interdependent sub systems to be learnt and manipulated. Comptuters are king at crunching systems, it's that simple. However, one thing that is lacking in almost all computer wargaming is interactivity. In CM I take my turn, you take your turn, we then sit down and watch the results. In SL/ASL I move my units one at a time while you wonder what I'm up to and what to currently do about it. Should I fire at that leading vehicle or wait for a better target? Will he try to overun me preventing other shots? Maybe he will bring up infantry next? And so on, the point is that CM has none of these decisions modelled. Gunners will fire on the first target to come in range, they won't wait for a flank shot or hope it goes some where else, and I think it's poorer for it. Which is why I still play boardgames more than computer games (not playing SL/ASL due to space limitations is a weak argument now that I'm playing The Next War's campaign, but relearning all those rules!), there is so little interaction and there is no real feeling of compteting against a live opponent, the one thing all gamers crave. P.S. KGP I&II beats RB any day of the week.

I should qualify my following statement with the fact that I have only played the current demo release, but I have about thirty matches under my belt, and am used to being an impromptu commander now. yurch, I totally disagree with you. What you propose would lead to stagnation. Both sides with their respective safe zones sending out well rehearsed and timed ground assaults, and fending off same, would lead to repetition that few would find interesting. The ability to spam air defences, to stage daring raids, to make a swift lunge for territory, and that no defense is "safe" are what breath life and create interest into this game. I also doubt the casual player would have the patience to wait several minutes before charging off to their doom.